With a Family
by Turmanarmo
Summary: Shikaku had told him once, "It is always better to have a backup plan ... if things do turn sour, it is far more troublesome to not have that plan." So when Minato has a nightmare about his son's birth, he decides to do just that. Two-Shot
1. A Warning Dream

**Turmanarmo: Welcome dear readers to my latest story, in honor of Naruto's Birthday. This will most likely be a two shot story and I hope to release the second part around a week from now.**

 **Tsunade: Well I bet you can't do it. How long have you been working on this story so far?**

 **Turmanarmo: (mutters) Off and on for a little over a year.**

 **Tsunade: Exactly. Anyways, Turmanarmo does not own the Anime/Manga Naruto or any of the characters contained in it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go prepare for the inevitable disaster that will come when I win this bet.**

 **Turmanarmo: *sigh* Whatever, without further ado, here is the first chapter of With a Family. I hope you enjoy.**

-September-4-Hokage's-Office-

Minato awoke with a start at his desk; he had been taking a short nap so that he would be a little less tired when he got home to Kushina. Sure, he loved his new job, but this first year as Hokage had been killer. Not only had he been dealing with a pregnant Kushina at home, but he also had to do all of the paperwork going through the village. Some days Sandaime-sama would help him, but today he was out of the village, taking advantage of his retirement to look into a rumor that his wayward student Tsunade was in the area. Minato sighed as he thought, ' _Only one more month and Naruto will be born. Then in another two I can finally appoint my own advisors, and I won't have to do all of the paperwork by myself.'_

During the first year as Hokage, it was apparently customary for him to do all of the paperwork in Konoha. That way, he could decide what matters he felt needed to be handled directly by him and what he could delegate to the council or his advisors. Sandaime-sama and his advisors, since they were still all alive, would become the 'elders,' basically a second advisory group for the Hokage to use if he or his advisors felt they needed another opinion. He was looking forward to that time, partly because he would have (slightly) less work to do, and partly because he would not have to listen to Danzo (and to a lesser extent Homura and Koharu) talking down to him at every meeting, unless he desperately needed their assistance.

The blond Kage frowned as the memories of what had awoken him finally came to the surface. He had been dreaming about the birth of his son. In that nightmare of a dream, something had gone wrong and he had been unable to stop the Kyuubi from escaping and destroying the village. His first thought was to dismiss the notion as folly, since he would be maintaining the seal himself and he had been taught Fuinjutsu by three of the greatest living masters in Konoha. Kushina had once joked that he must be part Uzumaki since he picked up the skill so easily; she had even grudgingly admitted that he was better at it than she was.

As he thought about it, he remembered something his friend Shikaku had once told him. "It is always better to have a backup plan in a situation that could become dangerous. Sure you wasted your time thinking it up in the first place if nothing bad happens, but if things do turn sour, it is far more troublesome to not have that plan."

Minato considered what he would do if he did have to fight the Kyuubi and scowled, ' _My only options would be to destroy it, which may very well be beyond my ability, or to seal it into a new Jinchuuriki.'_ Shuddering at his next though, he realized, _'Naruto would be my best bet as he is half Uzumaki, but without prior preparations, I would not be able to seal all of the Kyuubi. Moreover, my seal would end up being a weaker version of the potential seal since I would have to create it with Chakra instead of actually drawing it out. The only option I could see would be to use the Shiki Fujin to decrease the amount I had to seal as well as give me enough chakra to finish sealing the remainder. No, wait, maybe I could use sage mode to boost my reserves enough to seal the whole thing. Then I would use the Hakke no Fuin Shiki to seal the rest and hope that since it was such a strong seal to start with that it wouldn't be too weakened.'_

The Yondaime nodded as he decided that his friend was right, that would be a troublesome outcome. He needed to make sure that he had a plan for if the worst happened, and he knew just the people to help him plan it. Creating a Kage Bunshin to finish his paperwork, and hoping he would not get into too much trouble for doing so, he flashed off to his home.

-September-4-Namikazi-Residence-

When he arrived at his house, he found Kushina busy in the kitchen and sighed. She had yet again ignored the doctor's suggestion that she stop doing so much work since she was so far along. He flared his chakra lightly to warn her that he was home before he walked behind her and hugged his wife.

"You are home rather early dear, I'm not quite finished making the ramen yet." Shaking her head in exasperation, she continued, "You know, I still blame you for the fact that I have cravings for the stuff. I never seemed to like it so much until I had your child growing inside me."

Chuckling, Minato stuck his tongue out at his wife playfully as he replied, "Well at least we know he has good taste in food. However, I am home early because I need to talk with you. Can you please go sit down?" He pressed on despite her objections. "As soon as I finish what you were cooking here, I will be out to eat with you."

Despite her protests, she did eventually leave to let him finish for her. After enjoying the meal, Minato looked across at her seriously and said, "Okay, now I need to go get one more person to help out with this meeting, so I will be right back."

Kushina rolled her eyes as her husband flashed out of existence. However, she couldn't help but laugh at the confused and put out face their new guest was making when he returned a while later.

"Sorry Shikaku if I interrupted your post meal napping, but I have something important to discuss and I believe you would be helpful in figuring out the answer." Minato said through his nervous smile.

Shikaku muttered a "Troublesome" before sitting down at one of the more comfortable looking chairs and paying attention to his friend, knowing that it must be important for him to be acting like this. Minato sighed before saying, "I was thinking about the birth today and I realized something. On the off chance that we are unable to keep the Kyuubi sealed inside you Kushina, I would not be sufficiently prepared for resealing the beast."

Kushina looked shocked before her face morphed to a visage of pure rage as she shouted, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU BAKA! My baby will be fine and you will be there to make sure of that! 'tebane"

"I don't want to hear you two worry warts discussing horrible futures you dream up for my child!" As his wife stood and stomped out of the room, Minato smiled wanly at Shikaku while shaking his head fondly.

Shikaku tilted his head in confusion, "Shouldn't you go after her?"

"A few years ago I might have, but I have come to realize she just needs some time to cool off. If I follow her now, I will end up being the thing she vents into." Minato grimaced. "Regardless, she will be back soon."

Sure enough, a short time later Kushina stomped back into the room before plopping down with a huff, biting out, "I really have to be here, don't I? Otherwise you two idiots might decide to do something stupid."

Minato would have smiled at his wife's comment if not for the serious nature of the topic so instead he replied, "Thank you. Now where was I? Oh yes, in the event the Kyuubi has escaped the seal, what would we do? I don't have much of a plan yet, but I know that the best choice for the new Kyuubi Jinchuuriki would be our son, due to his heritage."

Shikaku looked thoughtful before saying, "Well based on my limited knowledge of Fuinjutsu compared to you, I would assume you would be able to make some preparations beforehand. Also, are there any specific requirements to perform the sealing?"

"Well that one is a bit more difficult." Kushina replied, "Yes you can prepare the seal in advance, but the earliest it can be prepared is 24 hours. Otherwise, it would need to be recharged with Chakra to prevent degrading. That option is not ideal, but it is still preferable to making the seal completely from Chakra in the first place."

"I plan to use the Hakke no Fuin Shiki as it is the strongest seal I know and we have actually managed to improve on the original design a bit." Minato hummed thoughtfully, "That one would require me to place Naruto in a sealing alter within proximity to the Kyuubi and then either draw or create the seal on him before expelling Chakra to activate it."

Kushina sighed before continuing, "Of course, preferably you would have at least three seal experts to power the sealing, as the Kyuubi's chakra must be passed through a filtering medium before it enters the host seal. If the required number is present, then you can separate your Chakra from your body and extend it outwards to do the processing. However, if there are not enough individuals to do this, then you can pass the Kyuubi directly through your own body and Chakra to act as the medium." She frowned before glaring at her husband as she realized what this meant for him, "That will undoubtedly lead to Chakra poisoning and overload. Minato, y-you would DIE, dattebane."

Shikaku grimaced as he said, "So basically you need Jiraiya-sama, Minato, and Sandaime-sama all at their best to perform the seal normally. We unfortunately do not have a large number of Shinobi with reserves high enough to safely contribute as well as skill in sealing knowledge."

Shikaku stroked his goatee as he continued, "So the biggest issue we have would be making sure our best Shinobi are not worn out or killed by the Kyuubi that is attacking the village. That poses quite the issue. If we hold anyone back to prepare for the sealing we would likely take many more casualties than necessary, but if we let them fight, there is a chance that they would not be able to assist in the sealing. This would leave whoever performed it with no option but to sacrifice their life."

Minato frowned as he replied, "Hopefully we can deal with the Kyuubi quickly then. If not, I would prefer all three of us to assist in the defense to minimize casualties. I can use sage mode or the Shiki Fujin to increase my reserves so I can handle the sealing if the others are exhausted. As a Hokage and Father, I would gladly lay down my life for my village and my family."

Kushina rounded on her lover and shouted, "OH NO YOU DON'T, 'TEBANE! If this situation comes to pass and we have to sacrifice someone, why can't you let Sandaime-sama or Jiraiya do it! Just have one of them hold back a bit if it comes down to it. I'm sure two of you together can handle Kyuubi without increasing casualties too much. I will most likely die from losing Kyuubi anyways, and Naruto will need at least one parent. You _have_ to take care of our son!"

Minato sighed, noticing the shimmering tears on the verge of spilling from her eyes, "Alright, you raise a valid point. So if it comes down to it, then someone else will seal it. I will send a message through the toads to Jiraiya-sensei asking him to return to the village. Once he and Sandaime-sama return, I will fill them in. However, I will let them decide who will do it in that case; it is their life to give after all."

Shikaku nodded before grimacing and asking, "Okay now that you have that worked out, you are still failing to plan for many scenarios. What happens if both of you die in some way, what will happen to Naruto then? What if we can't even seal the Kyuubi for some reason, or it escapes before we can? What if Naruto die-."

The aura of doom in the air forced him to choke off his next words as he glanced up at his two friends. He honestly wasn't sure what was more terrifying, the death glare being sent his way by Kushina, or the terrifying 'battle stare' that he could see on Minato.

With a mental _'Troublesome,'_ he continued, "Regardless, I suppose we know what you would do in that last situation. As to the others, if it leaves or we can't seal it we will just have to make sure Kyuubi doesn't do too much damage to anything before we can find another way to deal with the situation. I am concerned about what happens to your son if you both die though."

Minato grimaced as he said, "That is a scenario I had also put some thought into, but unfortunately, I honestly don't know. I would hope that someone would adopt Naruto and help to raise him."

Shikaku frowned as he replied, "That is unlikely my friend, Jinchuuriki are generally chosen from the relatives of the Kage in other villages for good reason, to keep power centralized. The council would never stand for the imbalance of power created by anyone else adopting him."

Minato looked put out as he replied, "I understand their reasons I suppose, but isn't there any way we could get around that issue."

"It could work if you faked the death of your own child and claimed you chose the child of one of your friends as the Jinchuuriki I suppose. The council wouldn't be happy about it, but they wouldn't risk taking a clan heads child away." Shikaku muttered, "The inherent problem with that is that most of your close friends are public figures who would not be able to claim they hid the pregnancy for that long. Inoichi and my wives are currently pregnant and are due to deliver sometime later this month so either of our families would be the easiest to lie about, but it would still pose numerous problems."

"Unfortunately, I really can't think of any other options than the following." As he adopted a grim visage Shikaku counted on his fingers, "You could let the child grow up as an orphan ward of the village. You could attempt to create a cover story where he was born as a twin of someone who gave birth close to that time. Alternatively, I suppose if there is someone who you trust intrinsically who … Well, maybe not, that is too farfetched to ever work."

As his head tilted in curiosity Minato inquired, "It can't hurt to bring it up, what was your idea Shikaku?"

The scarred tactician grunted out, "I was thinking that you might know someone who is single who could adopt him. I had only been considering your friends who were married beforehand. If they are a single man, they could claim they had borne a child without their original knowledge. They could even claim it was with a woman who conveniently does not have any records and died the night of the attack. A woman would be harder to pull off unless they happened to be out of the village for the last several months, but it could work if you knew someone who fit that bill."

Kushina scoffed as she said, "None of those plans would ever work. I refuse to let our son be raised alone, and I agree with Shikaku that it would be nearly impossible to fake Naruto into another family like that. Even if Yoshino had the birth insanely close to my own, you would have to hide all the details about the birth from everyone until the risk of mine had passed. That would be basically impossible for someone like the head family of a major clan."

"What about the other option then, surely there is someone we could find to adopt him?" Minato asked warily.

"As to that, the only person I can think of who we know and trust on that level that is not married is Jiraiya. As much as I believe he is a good man at heart, I am not sure I trust him to actually be the father to our son. Help teach him and look out for him, yes. To be his parent though, not in a million years. So I say we just do everything we can to make sure you are there for him."

The two males grimaced as they realized Kushina was not going to back down on this. Shikaku also groaned out, "there is of course also the issue of DNA and appearance, he may end up looking nothing like his adoptive family, especially given the decent chance that he will display Uzumaki trait for red hair. If his legitimacy as there child is ever questioned, his DNA would be tested and that would clearly show him as yours.

Minato took on a thoughtful look before shaking his head and said, "Okay then, I suppose that is the best we can do for now. If you do manage to come up with a way to not have someone sacrifice themselves, be sure to let me know Shikaku."

With that, he reached over and grabbed his friends shoulder before porting them both to the other's home once again. Once Minato returned home, he noticed that at some point during their conversation his clone had dismissed itself since it had managed to finish the paperwork for the day. He sighed in relief knowing he had managed to avoid being discovered in his ploy, unless his ANBU ratted him out. However, his mind was still plagued by that last issue they had discussed. He realized Kushina and Shikaku were right about the difficulty, but he could not dismiss the feeling that he would end up dying that night. He desperately wanted to make sure he had someone to send his child to if that happened. The only question was who.

' _Wait, there is someone we dismissed. I know it isn't the best bet given everything they've been through recently, but Kushina would probably approve of them slightly more than of Jiraiya-sensei. However, just to be safe I think I will talk to them without her permission. I just hope I can convince them to take him in, I honestly believe it would be good for the both of them.'_

-September-18-

As the following days passed, Minato went about preparing for all of the contingency plans he had put in place. He informed Jiraiya-sensei and Sandaime-sama of the plan. Once that was taken care of, they worked on improving the seal even more just to be safe. In the end, they managed to find a way to make the seal actively shield the presence of the Bijuu. This was so that, unless they were specifically looking for it, most sensors would be unable to tell that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki. Minato also came up with an idea to seal away a small portion of Kushina's Chakra in the seal as well. This way she could at least meet her son one more time when he was grown up.

A pair of Minato's Kage Bunshin had also been working secretly on a second seal around the clock. He dearly hoped that this seal wouldn't be necessary, since it would be the seal that would be required if Naruto were to be successfully adopted.

Minato had spent some time thinking about this issue, and he had come to realize that regardless of what he did to allow whoever adopted him to do so discreetly, it might not last. Even if he altered Naruto's general appearance to match that of the adoptive parents, there could still be an issue if his true parentage ever came in question for any reason. The ensuing blood test would easily prove the child was Minato's and Kushina's. That wasn't even the worst scenario though. If by some chance it was discovered that he was also the Jinchuuriki, it could cause a lot of trouble, regardless of his choice of parent. This seal would ensure that never happened and that Naruto would remain protected.

He had recently finished the seal and had come to terms with the fact that Naruto would effectively no longer be their son if this happened. Now he just had to bring up the nerve to ask the person he had selected. It had to be before the Nara or Yamanaka births came due so he could secretly ask them as well if he failed to convince his target.

-Morning-October-10-

When the day of Naruto's expected birth finally came, Minato was still nervous despite his planning. All the preparations were made, and all he had left to do was draw up the seals. He just hoped that all his worrying was for naught. He had even managed to convince his chosen parent to adopt Naruto if the worst happened.

They had been rather opposed to it at first, though that was largely due to their circumstances and the idea of Minato dying. Since the adoption was to remain secret, he asked them to standby in the shadows and go through with the plan if Minato had to sacrifice himself. They would swoop in after Minato died, kidnap the child, and apply the genetic Seal he gave them. Then they would 'abandon' him in a public place where he would be quickly found and taken to the hospital. There a DNA test would determine who the possible relatives were and if they had died. Then everything else would take care of itself.

-Evening-October-10-

When Kushina's water had finally broke, his stress and worrying had skyrocketed. Thankfully, the birth moved along without too many issues, so Minato began to relax a little and actually sighed in relief when Naruto was finally born. Seeing Naruto for the first time made him forget about everything clouding his mind. Thoughts of how much he would be willing to do for this babe filled him. Knowing no one could love a child quite like their mother, he realized he could never fathom Kushina's love for their son. His own seemed impossible enough to comprehend.

Realizing he had a task to complete, Minato turned to Kushina to perform the retightening on her seal. However, he quickly stiffened up when he felt an unknown presence appear out of nowhere and looked to see the bodies of Biwako and Taji hit the floor at the feet of a masked man holding his son. Then he heard the words that confirmed his worst fears: "Yondaime Hokage Minato. Back away from the Jinchuuriki, or your son dies at the ripe old age of one minute."

Minato's mind raced, _'How in the world did he break through the barrier without alerting me? Does he have a space-time Ninjutsu that works without markers? Regardless, I need to be careful.'_ Kushina's pained grunting interrupted his thoughts as the seal continued to breakdown. "Kushina!"

Just before he could turn to do something, he saw the masked man grasp a kunai, "I said back away from the Jinchuuriki, or don't you care if your son dies?"

Minato growled out protectively, "Let go of my son." He prepared to attack, but gasped in horror when he saw the Masked Man shrug before saying, "If you insist." As he tossed Naruto into the air.

Minato reacted on instinct and used his famous speed to swipe Naruto out of the air before he could be impaled on the Kunai. The man's smirk could be felt as he said, "You live up to your moniker, 'the Yellow Flash' well enough, but what will you do now?"

As he heard the telltale sounds of the paper bombs igniting, he quickly moved to separate Naruto from the blanket. At the same time, he teleported them both to a safe house outside the village. Minato just barely managed to outrun the explosion as he leapt out of the house and rolled to protect his child. However, his mind was already working on the problem of the man who had forced him to use the Hiraishin in order to separate him from Kushina. He promptly teleported to another of his safe houses and laid Naruto in a crib so that he could go save his wife before it was too late.

Unfortunately, he arrived with only enough time to quickly grab his wife and Shunshin away before the Kyuubi smashed her. Once he confirmed that his wife was indeed alive for now, he turned back to glare at the masked man. He vaguely registered her plea for him to be careful while stopping the Kyuubi, but his mind was busy racing for information about what was going on. Who was this Masked Man? What was his ultimate goal? How had he known when and where to attack? Was he alone or were there others working with him?

As a stream of questions zipped through his mind, he quickly disappeared to land within the shack where he had left Naruto. Telling his wife not to worry and to stay with Naruto, Minato gathered the supplies he would need for the battle. He had the unsettling feeling that the sacrifice would be needed after all. In addition to the Kyuubi, he now had to deal with this Masked Man, whom he knew far too little about. The fact that he was able to slip through high-level barriers and take out several ANBU without raising any alarm as well as control the Kyuubi was disturbing, and it had him on edge.

When Minato arrived back in Konoha, he saw that the masked man had somehow summoned the beast inside the village. He considered flashing to the Sandaime to inform him of the situation, but the Bijuudama the beast had aimed at him put a stop to those plans. Muttering some _choice words_ in frustration, he prepared to teleport the attack away with his Space-time Barrier. When it made it to him, the attack slowly slipped through the barrier and appeared several miles back in a barren area of the forest.

As he considered the implications of the power behind that blast, he suddenly sensed something behind him and quickly turned to attack his pursuer. However, much to his shock, his attack slipped right through the man's head almost as if he wasn't really there. Yet he was still physical when he grabbed Minato's arm.

The Masked Man seemed pleased as he said, "Your opponent is me, and I have just defeated you." This prompted a vortex centered on his eyehole that began sucking Minato in before he flashed to one of his emergency Kunai.

As he began considering the implications of the man's newly revealed ability to seemingly become intangible, he saw a similar vortex open in front of him. This produced the same masked man who hissed, "You won't escape me."

Glaring at his opponent, Minato thought, _'So he does have Space-Time Jutsu as well! I suppose that or the intangibility explains how he entered the barrier and killed the ANBU without fuss. I cannot let him catch me since he attempted to pull me into another dimension or something when we touched. I cannot figure out how he could do all of the things he has done tonight. He almost reminds me of Uchiha Madara with all he can do, but that doesn't make sense. Shodai-sama killed him long ago. Regardless, I need to stop him. I know it is a long shot, but maybe I can get some information out of him during this battle.'_

With the plan in mind, Minato decided to ask, "I am not sure exactly who you are, though it is clear to me you are quite talented with all you destroyed tonight. However, I do have a question for you. Why did you attack Konoha and extract Kyuubi?"

The masked man chuckled as he said, "Oh, a compliment from the Yondaime. I am honored. As to my why, well what should I say? It was for fun, a part of my plan." He continued as he attached a chain to his wrists, "To start war or bring peace. Whichever you prefer works for me, I am a very accommodating individual."

At this, Minato realized he wasn't likely to get anything out of this man and decided that this threat needed to be taken care of now, before he could cause any more harm to Konoha. So he charged at his opponent to make sure his theory was correct. As he slipped through the body and was caught by the dragging chains, Minato quickly warped away. With a smirk he thought, _'Got it. He uses some ability to become temporarily intangible, but materializes at the precise second that he counterattacks. Therefore, I need to trick him into thinking he has the lead and hit him at the absolute last second. I could try to simply outpace him, but I think I have a better idea. I will use my Hiraishin Second Step.'_

As they charged again, Minato waited until the perfect time before flicking one of his kunai at the man and watched as it began to phase through him. He formed a Rasengan in his right hand as the man reached for his left side. A split second after the Kunai left his head the man's hand met Minato's own arm. However, the instant he touched and tried to activate his warping ability, he was sent crashing into the ground courtesy of a Rasengan to the back from the same man who had just been in front of him.

As the dust settled, the man jumped back and Minato was treated to the disturbing sight of his arm sort of melting off. The man began ranting about not letting Minato catch him off guard again, so Minato decided to prove him wrong. Using the new Hiraishin marker he had placed on the man's back with the Rasengan, he flashed right in front of the masked villain. A contract seal spread from the kunai Minato had jammed into his gut.

Minato almost rolled his eyes when the man said, "A contract seal?! Are you trying to pull the Kyuubi from my control?" Honestly, he was not even sure why he dignified that with the response of, "No, I already did."

Jumping back, Minato heard a similar rant about retreating until he could come back and take the Kyuubi later begin. He briefly considered flashing over to jam a Rasengan into the man's gut and shut him up. However, the danger of the man having prepared for a repeat attack stayed his hand.

Minato sighed as he decided this was not the time to be overthinking, so he quickly flashed back to the village to see if they had everything under control yet. When he arrived, he was glad to see that the Kyuubi had been driven outside of the village and was currently fighting three large battle toads, courtesy of Jiraiya-sensei. It seemed that Jiraiya-sensei and Sarutobi-sama were the main ones fighting as well, probably in an effort to minimize casualties. Though, as planned Jiraiya was doing most of the work so the Sandaime could do the sealing. He was also pleased to notice that the damage to the village seemed to be largely restricted to the edge, which meant that the overall impact of this event might be relatively low compared to what he was expecting.

When he approached, he realized that Jiraiya was quite exhausted from the fighting. Gritting his teeth, he moved faster, hoping to end it before they were so tired they couldn't help. To make things worse, they both did something incredibly stupid that he never expected to see from them. Sensing him, they glanced back rather than focusing everything on their fight. The Kyuubi noticed their lapse in judgment and seemed to grin viciously as a well-timed swipe of a claw and a tail at his distracted foes sent them flying. Based on the way they impacted and the fact that they were not moving, Minato suspected they had been knocked out. His calm façade nearly broke as he mentally cried out in frustration at how messed up this whole situation was.

Resolving himself to his fate, he glanced over at Shikaku who was looking at him with horror as he realized the implications of this as well. Minato smiled solemnly and quickly jumped atop Gamabunta, ordering him to pin the Kyuubi for a second so he could teleport him away from the village to the sealing area.

When he arrived, he quickly grabbed Kushina and Naruto. Kushina, stubborn as always, set up a barrier to hold the Kyuubi. While they prepared, Minato gulped as he prepared to face something worse than his own death, his angry wife. Sighing, he began, "Kushina, there has been a minor change in plans. When I arrived on the battlefield, Kyuubi managed to knock out both Jiraiya-sensei and Sarutobi-sama, meaning I am alone for the sealing. I believe you know what that means."

She glared at him as she responded, "You bet I do, it means you aren't doing this seal, I am not letting our son grow up as a hated orphan. I will just pull Kyuubi into me and kill him that way. You can reseal him when he comes back around."

Smiling sadly Minato responded, "Unfortunately I am going to have to disagree with you Kushina, I still plan to seal Kyuubi tonight, but rest assured, I will not leave our son alone. On top of my plan to seal a portion of our two chakras inside the seal as countermeasures, I have also arranged for someone to be Naruto's parent. They are waiting outside this barrier and will come inside once we are done to claim their new child."

Kushina looked something between horrified and livid as she shouted at her errant husband about how much of a baka he was for thinking that anyone would buy his idiotic plan. He almost winced at a couple of the insults coming his way and silently hoped that his son's temperament would be more like his own rather than Kushina's. Shaking off that notion, he focused on being still. He did not have much chakra left and if he was going to act as the filter, he would need enough to do a good job of it.

Soon he looked back up with what appeared to be nearly perfect sage mode. Much better than anything his sensei had been able to achieve as of yet, even with the elder toads helping him. Despite his proficiency at balancing the chakra, he couldn't hold it for long. Normally, stillness just wasn't his thing, but for this sealing, it was exactly what he needed.

Minato went through a mental checklist to calm his nerves and make sure he had finished all the necessary parts to this setup, _'Okay, I have written the key and stored it on Mt. Myoboku, though I had to swear the toads to secrecy about my plan so they don't tell Jiraiya. I have the seal right here and it is ready to be transferred to Naruto. I have also modulated my chakra to be a filter for Kyuubi, I am all set.'_

At that, he laid Naruto down in the sealing alter and pulled the seal paper out of his pouch. However, as he kneeled down he noticed that the seal was already inscribed on his belly. He glanced over at his wife realizing she had done this while waiting for him to return. Smiling grimly, he looked back down and activated the Hakke no Fuin Shiki. As he felt the chakra burn its way through his network, he quickly stilled himself and tried to pull in some more Nature energy to keep the correct balance for the filtering.

After what seemed like an eternity, he turned to Kushina, who had been openly crying for some time now, and asked her to say her final words to Naruto. Once she was finished speaking, he grabbed her by her hand and whispered the name of Naruto's new guardian before he sealing her Chakra within the seal. He was mildly pleased with the look on her face; she seemed a weird mix of relieved and worried. He smiled one last time down at the child he had helped create before funneling what little chakra he had left into the seal. He glanced across the way at the incoming figure before mouthing 'Thank you' as he finally collapsed from exhaustion.

The last thing he saw as he faded was the blurry figure approaching the scene.

-Early-Hours-October-11-

Staring in horror at the bodies of the Hokage and his wife, the figure fell to their knees and began to shake. Despite their inability to tear their vision away from the scene, they vaguely registered the sound of wailing cries in the background. Once they realized what the sound was, the figure hardened their heart, shook their head, and stood to pick up the child. Staring into the infants eyes they said, "I guess it is just you and me now Naruto, I hope he is right and having me take care of you doesn't mess you up too much. Well I suppose we should go before anyone comes by and spoils the plan … son."

 **And there is the first chapter of this story. As I mentioned briefly in the Author's note in the beginning of this, I have been working on this story off and on (more off than on) since about July of 2014 when I started writing out some plans. The original first chapter was written sometime around the Naruto Sasuke fight towards the end of the Manga, but this story has changed a TON since then. This is also the 3** **rd** **or 4** **th** **rewrite of this story as a whole, it originally included some time travel elements and was just generally overcomplicated. It was also supposed to be part of a large multi chapter redo of the story with Naruto having been adopted, but I could never get very far beyond the 2** **nd** **or 3** **rd** **chapter so I scrapped that idea and went with what we have now. The next chapter will wrap up the mystery of who the mysterious parent is and may have some time skip elements to show how things changed due to this, but I'm not sure yet. Hopefully having this out here will give me the motivation I need to actually get that done.**

 **Regardless, this chapter was a cool 6266 words and hopefully it explained everything I wanted it to without feeling too bulky. A massive thanks to FaithfulWhispers and John Smith (Plank-no-Jutsu) for betaing this monstrosity for me; they are responsible for making this readable/understandable. Please review and I will see you in (about) a week.**


	2. Looking Back to the Beginning

**Sakura: What have you done!?**

 **Turmanarmo: Huh, what do you mean Sakura, I know I'm late with the release (by nearly a weak) and that means Tsunade won the bet, but I don't see any sort of disaster going on.**

 **Sakura: They aren't always big apocalypse like disasters. Once Saturday passed and you didn't post there was an explosion in the Hokage Tower as Shishou's Henge shorted out and reversed. She has been stuck looking older than she actually is instead of younger since then and won't let anyone into the office except Shizune. So I reiterate. What. Have. You. Done.**

 **Turmanarmo: Look, I'm sorry, I didn't expect to hit as much of a wall as I did, but it's out now, maybe the bad luck will end soon since it's finally here.**

 **Sakura: Whatever, I'm here so I guess I'll do the disclaimer. The idiot here doesn't own the Naruto franchise; he is too much of a slacker to have ever taken on that kind of commitment. Thanks to those who reviewed last time, and enjoy the story. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be helping Tsunade-sama.**

A groan emitted from Hiruzen as he woke up from what had to be a horrible nightmare. He was so thankful that had not actually…

"Sarutobi-sensei, hurry, maybe we can still make it in time."

Bolting up as Jiraiya called his name, Hiruzen swiftly scanned the scene before following his student as quickly as he possibly could. The only thing running through his weary mind was, _'Please don't let this nightmare get any worse.'_

However, the scene they arrived at was about as bad as it could get. Coming to terms with the fact that Kushina and Minato had died long before their time was hard, but nothing he wasn't wearily used to. It wasn't even watching the look of devastation cross his pupil's face as he saw the scene. No, the worst part by far was the lack of something very important, Minato's son.

Realizing that the circumstances demanded his presence elsewhere, Hiruzen hardened his heart once more. He silently called for the ANBU he knew had followed and informed them to begin the search for the babe. Deciding to let Jiraiya mourn, The Sandaime Hokage headed to the tower to help organize the recovery of his village.

Upon arriving, Hiruzen saw Danzo waiting for him outside the door. Ever the blunt one, his old friend's first clipped questions were, "What of the Kyuubi and the Yondaime? Did he manage to seal it? And where is the Jinchuuriki?"

Sighing wearily, and ignoring Danzo's perpetual scowl, Hiruzen replied, "Honestly we don't know much yet. I came upon the scene after both Minato and Kushina had already died, and until I discover otherwise, I believe no one saw what happened."

Hesitating briefly, he decided to add, "Minato's child was the intended Jinchuuriki, but he is nowhere to be found, and so I do not know whether the beast was sealed or destroyed. However, it would be for the best if our enemies thought we had sealed it, so I would appreciate it if you would spread that rumor around through your connections. I plan to have Jiraiya do the same."

When Danzo nodded his agreement and hobbled off, Hiruzen sighed again and walked inside the Hokage Tower. Arriving in his office, he nodded grimly as he noticed the minute energy trace of the ANBU Commander. Sitting down, he turned to the center of the room and said, "Report."

As the figure with a smooth black ANBU mask materialized, they adopted a kneeling salute before saying, "Casualties were high as to be expected from an event like this, but the preparations of Yondaime-sama allowed us to get most of the civilians out of the area before too much damage occurred. We also managed to reduce some of the damage to our forces due to the efforts of yourself and Jiraiya-sama."

The smooth voice remained cold and detached despite the contents of the report. "The hospital is still functional and so the injured are being treated as we speak. A final count will be provided by the hospital once everyone has been accounted for and the cases have stabilized."

Nodding, the Hokage clipped out, "Thank you Shade, I accept your preliminary report. We will unfortunately need to add Minato and Kushina to the casualty list. You may go back to directing our teams for the cleanup and rescue phase, and I expect updates daily from either you or another of our operatives."

As he continued, the distressed urgency that appeared in Hiruzen's tone easily caught Shade's attention. "There is another matter of great importance, Minato's son is missing. I sent my personal guard to look for the child, but the situation needs to be rectified post haste. Spare what you can from non-essential tasks to find him."

After a short pause, Hiruzen looked into the eye holes of the mask in front of him and said, "It would be best if Dog were not informed about this, at least until I can do so personally. You are dismissed."

As Shade disappeared once again, Hiruzen let out a pent up sigh and got to work.

* * *

In the rubble of one of the large buildings in the red light district stood a shinobi holding a crying infant. He had been given the child by a woman who claimed she had found it lying just outside the rubble of one of the 'entertainment houses' in the area. Sighing, he considered how sad it was that another potential orphan had been found from the attack. He cautiously wondered if one of its parents might still be alive and decided to take it to the hospital for identification. As he dashed off to do so, he failed to notice the shadow behind him move as the hidden figure leapt off as well.

* * *

Mouse sighed as she stood inside the hospital watching all that was going on. She had been assigned to watch over the area and assist with anything she could as well as gather the reports to be given to her commander later. These reports included a listing of all the deaths so far and a status report on casualties who hadn't passed yet. There was also the orphans report, listing the children and infants who had been separated from their families and had been chakra tested to see if their relatives were amongst the dead.

As she perused the list, she happened across the entry of the small child they had been informed was found in the red light district. She sighed at how small and frail the child had been. When they had received him, he had been wailing like he was in pain until a medic noticed that he seemed to be having a negative reaction to his chakra, though it was helped when the medic applied some healing chakra to sooth the child.

The medics had expected him to wind up an orphan given the location of his birth, so out of morbid curiosity she looked across the entry to see if a result had been discovered. As expected, the mother was an unknown, but surprisingly enough there was a potential result for the father. A blood test would be required to verify that, but at minimum, he would be a potential relative. As was standard, the results were given as a code that would only mean something to those with access to the necessary records.

As the day wore on, her shift finally came to a close and she gathered up the papers to deliver them to her superior.

* * *

Deep in the ANBU headquarters, Shade listened to the reports of those assembled while glancing over the physical report from the hospital before stating, "Good work out there today. Get some rest as you will be needed again tomorrow. You are all dismissed except Dog. Hokage-sama has requested your presence."

As the others disappeared back to their homes, Shade gestured for the mentioned subordinate to follow.

Upon arrival at the office, they materialized and waited patiently for their cue. When the Hokage looked up and asked for their report, Shade said, "Sir, the preliminary casualty information indicates a low mortality rate. There are still many in critical condition, so the final count is still unavailable. The damaged areas of the village have been checked by sensory and tracking ninja, and we are certain we have found all of those trapped in the debris. An extra ANBU guard squad has been added to the destroyed portion of the wall while it awaits repairs."

At the Hokage's approving nod, Shade continued the emotionless report, "The special search you requested has turned up no results yet. As no trail was found, a converging grid search has been initiated to cover the entire Land of Fire. Initial reports for the night have come in from the hospital, and they are ready to be looked over at your convenience."

Hiruzen glanced over at the ANBU Commander in front of him as he was handed the indicated reports. As he read through the lines, he sighed at all the death and suffering his village had endured once again. He then hesitantly reached for the orphan report and began glancing down the results to see how many new orphans this event had created. He had to do a double take when he arrived at a line containing the id number 009720, which he swore he recognized. Pulling a folder from his desk, he glanced through a set of Ninja Registration numbers to confirm his suspicions.

After finding the information he was looking for, he closed his eyes and sighed as he quickly did a sensory sweep of the room. Activating the basic security seal on his desk he muttered, "Of course, that is definitely … an interesting development. First though, Dog, if you would kindly remove your mask, I wish to speak with you, not your cover."

After stiffening at being called out, he slowly removed his mask and sat it on his leader's desk before saying, "Yes Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen felt like he had aged another lifetime as he prepared to heap another death onto this young shinobi before him. Shaking his head, he stated, "Unfortunately Kakashi, I must inform you that Minato and Kushina died tonight during the attack. Minato did everything in his power to make sure this would not happen, but unfortunately unforeseen complications led to the worst possible situation."

His voice remained steady from his years of experience at delivering such news, experience that he wished didn't make him sound so detached from something that was eating him up inside. Though his breath almost hitched as he continued, "It also appears that their son may have been taken as well. We do not yet know how or why he was not with them. We are doing everything in our power to find him though, rest assured of that Kakashi."

The room fell into silence as this sunk into the silver haired youth whose visible eye somehow looked even more dead than usual. Hiruzen had not seen that look since the youth came back from the dreaded mission where his last teammate, Nohara Rin, had died. It did not look right on one so young, and he sadly recalled that this was now the fifth time Kakashi had suffered such a horrendous loss in his short 14 years of life. He pointedly ignored the single choked sob that emitted from the now slightly trembling form, dismissing the rule that stated he should reprimand his subordinate for showing such emotion. He knew that since he said nothing about it, Shade would do likewise and let Kakashi have his moment of grief. He had essentially just lost his parents all over again after all.

"Kakashi." Hiruzen nodded subtly once the man straightened again, "There is one last topic I must address. According to the report I just read, you have been identified as a potential father to an infant found this morning. Were you aware you had a child?"

Kakashi shook his head as he replied, "No sir."

At the short reply, Hiruzen closed his eyes in exhaustion, struggling to retain his emotionless mask. "I see. You will need to report to the hospital for a blood analysis to verify it. Tell them you are there for patient 9-H. Please take care of this test right away and decide if you are going to keep him or give him up for adoption."

Kakashi stiffened as he replied, "I do not plan to abandon the child sir. Even if I am not necessarily the best person to be a parent, I would rather not abandon him to grow up alone."

After a moment, he muttered so softly that Hiruzen barely caught it, "Maybe I won't fail this time."

As he flickered away, Hiruzen sighed and mumbled, "I hope you are right Kakashi, and I hope you can handle the latest situation you have been dealt."

* * *

Kakashi's mind raced as he headed over to the Hospital. Despite having known beforehand that his family had been ripped from him once again, he had managed to push that aside until they were in the room and he was forced to deal with it once again. He also hoped that Minato's final backup plan would not fail.

He had been shocked when Minato-sensei had approached him a little less than a month ago with the prospect of doing this. Initially, he had adamantly refused the idea on two grounds. First, that he was not old enough to take care of a child, and second that he would make a terrible guardian for the kid. He had been unable to protect Obito and Rin after all.

Of course, the other point that he hadn't admitted had been that he believed his sensei would not be killed and that everything would go fine. After sensei had talked with him for a while, Kakashi had finally agreed to the harebrained scheme to become Naruto's father. Surely it would never actually happen, and he could then move on with his life. Of course, it had ended up happening just as Minato-sensei had feared, and now he was going to do the best he could. He had given his word to his sensei that he would watch over Naruto as his own after all.

He shook his head as he considered how dense his sensei could be sometimes, despite being a genius. Kakashi was probably the worst possible choice for a parent. Surely, the child would somehow die due to his inability to protect him and even if he did somehow survive, he would surely be messed up having Kakashi for a parent. Upon arriving at the hospital, he wondered if this might still fail. There was always the chance that the seals wouldn't work and that they would either discover they weren't related or that Naruto was the Jinchuuriki, right? Both of which would likely result in him being prevented from taking care of the child. Of course, he knew these were highly unlikely considering how good at Fuinjutsu Minato-sensei was.

Taking a calming breath, Kakashi walked up to the main desk and said, "Excuse me, I was sent by Hokage-sama to do a blood matchup test for patient 9-H."

The attendant looked at him skeptically as she said, "Aren't you a little young to have knocked up some poor girl? I swear, the youth these days can't control themselves."

Shaking her head to dismiss that thought, she continued, "Regardless, just head down that hall on the left and follow the signs to the maternity ward. One of the nurses there will help you when they can spare the time."

When he arrived at the appropriate ward, it didn't take too long before a nurse approached him and said, "What do you need kid? Only parents are supposed to be back here."

With a pointed cough, Kakashi replied, "I was listed as a potential match for patient 9-H."

Looking him over and realizing he wasn't joking, the nurse sighed out, "AH, well if that's the case, let's get this taken care of."

After checking the chart by the nurses' station, she continued, "Okay, 1 … 5 … 9. 9-A … 9-E … 9-H. There we are. Oh, that would be the child that had some sort of negative reaction to his Chakra; he is being kept in a separate room so he can be monitored for any changes in his condition. Follow me."

The nurse quickly took Kakashi to the room. Upon arriving, she pulled out the sample they had already taken from the child and pulled out a swab kit to take Kakashi's as well. Once she was done, she put them both into a machine on the other side of the room. With that complete, she left to attend to her other duties while the machine processed the samples.

For the entire time she was away, Kakashi stood stock still, making a point of not looking at the infant. He had to make sure the test results would be positive before he could allow himself to form any sort of attachment; he couldn't risk it being ripped away and hurting him again. Sure, he doubted he could form any sort of bond that fast, but he figured he was already too attached to this scheme without making it harder for himself if it didn't work out.

The seemingly endless time before the nurse returned was extremely nerve wracking. If he weren't a trained ANBU agent, he likely wouldn't have been able to stay so still for that time. Though, if anyone had been paying enough attention, they would have noticed the constant, subtle clenching and unclenching of his fists.

When the nurse finally reentered the room, she ran a chakra-filled palm across the device to check the results. After a few moments she hummed out, "The results indicate that you are indeed his father. We would prefer if the child stayed here for a while since we want to keep an eye on him for any complications that may crop up."

Glancing over at the teen, she sighed, "If you want, I suppose you can stay in the room as well."

Kakashi sighed subtly before he replied, "Thank you, I will take you up on the offer to stay here for now, at least until he is ready to go home."

As the Nurse nodded and left the room, Kakashi walked over to the crib and glanced down at baby Naruto. For the first time, he took more than a cursory glance at the infant. He would probably be somewhat concerned with the peculiar whisker like scar pattern on his cheeks, but Minato-sensei had mentioned the possibility of Naruto having such scars. He then smiled slightly when he noted that, despite the fact that he shared his silver hair with Kakashi, Naruto still had the brilliant blue eyes of Minato-sensei.

One of his biggest worries once he had been informed about this 'genetic seal,' as Sensei had called it, was the question of what all would be changed. He knew that his hair color would change to make it more believable, but outside of that, it would alter exactly enough of his DNA so that it would create a match with Kakashi's own. The mother's part of the DNA, as it were, would be comprised of Minato and Kushina, effectively making Naruto have three parents with Kakashi as the dominant parent.

This had been another point of contention between the two as Kakashi didn't want to take their child like that. Sure, he supposed he could have seen it as a touching thought that Minato would willingly want his and Kushina's baby boy to be part Kakashi, but he just couldn't see it that way. Kakashi didn't know enough about how this stuff worked to have any idea about what sorts of things were genetic, but he knew one thing for sure: he didn't have anything to offer this kid. Honestly, the only redeeming qualities Kakashi had were his analytical mind and natural skill, both of which Minato far outclassed him in.

As he went back over to the other side of the room, Kakashi laid down in the cot set out for him. He let out a deep sigh as he decided that it was too late to worry about it now. He just needed to get over his problems and do his best to watch out for Sensei's son. His dreams that night were many, and they all seemed to center around one factor: the multitude of ways he could either fail or succeed at raising Naruto.

* * *

Sitting behind his desk, the Rokudaime Hokage laid the manuscript down and began massaging his temples. Looking at the man sitting across from him, he rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. "Seriously Dad, what is up with this? I know the pervy old geezer asked you to help him with his silly idea to write this biography, but I don't think this is quite what he was after."

Kakashi's one visible eyebrow disappeared behind his headband as he drawled out, "Well _Naruto_ , he asked me to write what happened, so I wrote it down as I remembered it. I can't help it if you don't have a taste for good literature."

The indignant snort from Naruto indicated how much he accepted that idea. He replied by sarcastically mimicking his father's drawling tone, "Oh yes, I'm sure _Jiraiya_ , a man who writes those … _fine works of art_ that you always tried to pretend like you weren't reading around me when I was a teen, wants a depressing and somewhat angsty retelling of my birth and early years for his novel."

A small happy grin appeared on his face as he added, "Why not just write a short thing about my birth and then add some awesome stories from my childhood? Like maybe the day I brought that dog home, thinking we could adopt a non-summon dog."

Kakashi's eye showed his mirth as he replied, "You mean that Inuzuka dog that was escorting you home when she found you sneaking around in their kennels looking for a puppy?"

Naruto could almost feel the smirk in his voice as Kakashi continued, "Speaking of my summons, how about that time I was teaching you how to throw a shuriken and you nearly hit Pakkun with it, while he was sitting _behind_ you. That could make an amusing story, or maybe we could tell him about _the mask incident_. Jiraiya-sama has wanted to know what we are talking about when we mention that for years now."

Ducking his head to hide the dusting of pink on his cheeks, Naruto coughed awkwardly before adding, "Very funny, _Dad_. Why couldn't you think of something cool, like maybe when you taught me the Kage Bunshin? Learning a B-rank technique in only 2 hours makes me sound super amazingly awesome."

"Where is the fun in that though? Embarrassing stories are one of the many perks of being a dad. I can't help it if you make it extra easy." Chuckling at the indignant "Hey!" from his son, Kakashi continued. "Plus, one could argue that your ability to spam the technique until you figured it out due to your massive reserves gives you a somewhat unfair advantage."

Taking on a thoughtful stance he muttered, "I'll definitely have to ask Gai and Tenzo if they remember any good stories since they often helped watch you when I was busy."

At the mention of his name, Tenzo materialized from the shadows, where he had been standing guard. "There is of course the time Naruto recognized you while you were in your ANBU disguise when he was, what? Two? Three? If I remember correctly, you had left him under Gai's supervision for your shift and he snuck out to find you."

Chuckling merrily, he continued, "Sandaime-sama and I were highly amused when he ran into the office, straight to the corner where you were hidden, hugged your invisible form, and shouted 'Daddy!' at the top of his lungs."

An amused glint entered Naruto's eyes as he glanced over at Kakashi with the biggest grin splitting his face. "Oh really? Now why has no one bothered to mention this story to me before? That's hilarious! I can't imagine how miserable you would have looked under that mask of yours."

His grin morphed into something more fondly amused as he added, "You've never been the hugging type, especially back then. Then to have someone else around … Hah! You still won't let me hug you with others around unless I force you."

Kakashi rolled his eye as he responded with a sinister edge to his voice, "Well, I have no idea why Sandaime-sama never told you about it, but _Tenzo_ hadn't told you because I threatened him with certain … _unpleasantries_ if he ever uttered a word to another living soul. Clearly he either doesn't remember that part, or he is under the impression that I won't still deliver on that threat even now."

As the masked ANBU agent fidgeted nervously in the corner, Naruto took pity on the man and dismissed him. With a sly grin, he laughed out, "Well I would ask you not to be _too_ cruel to my favorite ANBU guard, but I know you'll just ignore me anyways and I'll never be able to prove it was you who did whatever you end up doing to poor Tenzo."

Naruto's eyes danced as he recalled, "You _were_ the one who taught me how to pull pranks without leaving behind any evidence. You claimed it was just a training exercise, but I know that wasn't the only reason."

An amused shrug was Kakashi's response as he quipped, "The entertainment value of watching trained ANBU agents flounder over an academy student's prank was definitely a perk."

After laughing heartily at that for a time, Naruto managed to calm down before adopting a thoughtful look and muttering, "I've got to wonder what all Jiraiya will include in this little biography though. How's he even going to decide what to put in there anyways?"

Kakashi shrugged noncommittally as he sat in the chair across from his son and commented, "Well, normally they are focused on laying out a general map of the subject's life with some anecdotal stories to give an idea of what they have done that has shaped who they are."

Tilting his head in thought, he mused, "However, this is Jiraiya-sama we are talking about here, so who knows what it will look like in the end."

Humming in thought, Naruto murmured, "Well, if we are going for life shaping events, the first event that comes to mind other than … this." Gesturing vaguely in the direction of the manuscript, he continued. "Well, that would have to be the day you told me about my parents and that I am a Jinchuuriki. I remember being so upset. I was pissed at you, at my parents, at Kurama … but mostly, I was scared."

Naruto's hand traveled down to his stomach as he glanced away and muttered, "Scared that I wouldn't be able to stop him from getting out, that I was a disappointment to my parents, that I might disappoint you, and that since I wasn't really your son, that you didn't or couldn't actually love me."

A small, sad smile broke out across the young man's face when Kakashi flinched subtly. Sighing at the depressing mood, he continued, "That thought stuck with me for years. Every time I messed up or wasn't good enough, especially if it involved Kurama, those feelings would sneak back up on me. In the end though, every time it bothered me, you'd fix it without even knowing I needed fixing. After living with you for so long, I've gotten pretty good at seeing underneath the underneath. As cold and aloof as you like to act, you show a lot of love and care for others, just in more subtle ways."

A content smile snuck back onto Naruto's face as he continued. "With me though, it was like you were willing to be really up front when I needed it, no matter how awkward it might've gotten at times. Then, of course, there was the fact that every year on my birthday, you would sit with me and tell me the story of my birth and remind me that you loved me more than anything. That meant the world to me then, and it still does to this day."

Smiling under his mask, Kakashi considered his life with Naruto as a son. _'It wasn't always easy, but Minato-sensei was right. He was good for me, and given how he turned out, I couldn't have been too bad for him. Naruto helped me make peace with my past. Maybe I would have been able to do that without him, I don't know, but my son definitely helped get me there faster.'_

Leaning back in his chair, he continued musing. _'My biggest concern for a long time had been whether or not he could grow up happy with someone like me, but the tyke had been almost naturally joyful. Even when something would get to him, he rarely stayed down for long. Sometimes spending time with me was enough to make him happy again, and other times he would go out of his way to make someone else happy, which always made him happy as well.'_

A small blush bloomed on his face but was thankfully covered by his mask as he thought, _'One particularly embarrassing revelation I received while raising him was when he explained I was the reason he made friends with everyone he could. Apparently, the perceptive little boy had noticed that_ _no matter how much I complained about my eccentric friend, I was always a little bit happier around Gai.'_

Naruto's hand waving in front of his eye and the silly grin splitting his son's face brought Kakashi back from his musings. As they left the room to go get lunch together, he couldn't help thinking about how proud he was of the young man leading him to Ichiraku Ramen. Hatake Naruto was a splendid Hokage and a fantastic son, and even though Kakashi would never tell him so, he always felt honored that Naruto still chose to call him Dad.

 **And that's a wrap. This chapter was a pain to write for me, especially everything after the time jump. It took me until Friday last week to come up with a way that I liked to even write that section and since then the story has gone through about 4-5 phases of major to minor rewrites based on my own changing feelings and suggestions of my Beta (John Smith/Plank-no-Jutsu) who has been very patient with my mania over this chapter. Also, if any of you are wondering about DNA testing being a thing, I refer to chapter 545 of the Manga, pages 2-3. Sakura and Shizune have some sort of DNA device to compare the Zetsu with Hashirama's genes.**

 **There was so much information I wanted to convey about grown up Naruto, but I could only fit so much in without making it seem too out there. Basically Naruto is supposed to be similar to what he is like in canon, only a bit more like Minato in a way since he can swap from silly to mellow more easily than the Naruto of canon. Some facts are set by this story, like the fact that at some point Hiruzen and Jiraiya get in on the plan, others are left to your imagination, like what events all changed from the timeline. I did want to make sure Naruto at some point still became friends with Kurama, so that is why he calls him by name in this. As to Naruto's age, it isn't set but I'm imagining somewhere around mid 20s. If you are interested, there are a pair of commissioned drawings I had made for this story clear back when i first started planning it, I have links to them on my profile. Anyways, this chapter was 4905 long and this brings this story to a close. I'm fairly certain this will be the last Naruto story I write, but I may eventually pick up another fandom to write in. You guys have been awesome, thanks for reading and reviewing.**


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